Methods and apparatus to classify reports

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to classify reports are disclosed herein. An example method includes determining a type of an examination associated with a report; obtaining an identification of a person associated with the report; using the identification to determine whether the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination; when the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination, classifying the report as associated with a specialist; when the person associated with the report is unspecialized in the type of the examination, classifying the report as associated with a non-specialist; and presenting a document consumer with an indication of the classification of the report.

1 . A computer-implemented method to classify a report, comprising:
 determining a type of an examination associated with a report;   obtaining an identification of a person associated with the report;   using the identification to determine whether the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination;   when the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination, classifying the report as associated with a specialist;   when the person associated with the report is unspecialized in the type of the examination, classifying the report as associated with a non-specialist; and   presenting a document consumer with an indication of the classification of the report.   
     
     
         2 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the person associated with the report is an author of the report, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as authored by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         3 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the person associated with the report is a reviewer of results from the examination, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as reviewed by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         4 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising enabling the document consumer to prioritize a display of one or more classified reports according to a classification of the one or more reports. 
     
     
         5 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising conveying the classified report to a database providing shared access to a plurality of entities. 
     
     
         6 . A method as defined in  claim 5 , wherein the database is a component of an Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) system. 
     
     
         7 . A method as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the examination comprises a healthcare procedure and the report comprises a standardized healthcare document. 
     
     
         8 . A tangible machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:
 determine a type of an examination associated with a report;   obtain an identification of a person associated with the report;   use the identification to determine whether the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination;   when the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination, classify the report as associated with a specialist;   when the person associated with the report is unspecialized in the type of the examination, classify the report as associated with a non-specialist; and   present a document consumer with an indication of the classification of the report.   
     
     
         9 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the person associated with the report is an author of the report, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as authored by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         10 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the person associated with the report is a reviewer of results from the examination, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as reviewed by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         11 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 8  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to enable the document consumer to prioritize a display of one or more classified reports according to a classification of the one or more reports. 
     
     
         12 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 8  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to convey the classified report to a database providing shared access to a plurality of entities. 
     
     
         13 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the database is a component of an Integrated the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) system. 
     
     
         14 . A tangible machine readable medium as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the examination comprises a healthcare procedure and the report comprises a standardized healthcare document. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus to classify a report, comprising:
 an examination type identifier to determine a type of an examination associated with a report;   a person identifier to obtain an identification of a person associated with the report;   a specialty retriever to obtain one or more specialties associated with the person using the identification;   a comparator to determine whether the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination;   a classification assignor to:
 when the person associated with the report is specialized in the type of the examination, classify the report as associated with a specialist; and 
 when the person associated with the report is unspecialized in the type of the examination, classify the report as associated with a non-specialist, and 
   a presentation module to present a document consumer with an indication of the classification of the report.   
     
     
         16 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 15 , wherein the person associated with the report is an author of the report, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as authored by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 15 , wherein the person associated with the report is a reviewer of results from the examination, and wherein classifying the report comprises classifying the report as reviewed by a specialist or non-specialist. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 15 , further comprising a communication interface to convey the classified report to a database providing shared access to a plurality of entities. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 15 , wherein the database is a component of an Integrated the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) system. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 19 , wherein the examination comprises a healthcare procedure and the report comprises a standardized healthcare document.